Deborah Simmons

Election Day 2017: 5 things to know

Tuesday is Election Day. Not the big one, of course, and the one from which much of America remains hungover since Donald Trump won the presidential race 365 days ago. Published November 6, 2017

The sick hospital syndrome

Let's give the report that gives passing and failing safety grades to America's hospitals a new take on the sick hospital syndrome. Published November 2, 2017

D.C. education plan evades teaching and learning

The District's latest version of a five-year strategic education plan is in hand, and like its earlier version, it lists objectives and markers on a measuring stick to determine how well schools and students stack up. Published November 1, 2017

Trump, Obama and black unemployment

Black unemployment. What can America do to flip the script? Published October 23, 2017

Memo to President Trump on the meaning of ‘inner cities’

In your election night victory speech, Mr. President, you didn't have me until you uttered these 42 words: Published October 19, 2017

Hunger is not a game

Rova and Jiana are both 5, yet one stands practically head and shoulders above the other. Published October 18, 2017

New legislation muddies D.C. waterways

Our nation's capital is overwhelmed by crises. An opioid crisis. A poor people's crises. A gun violence crisis. An STD crisis. A food desert crisis. Published October 17, 2017

Hey, Amazon, look at Northern Virginia

There are so many giveaways and takeaways being bandied about in the battle for Amazon's HQ2, some of the highly competitive bidding wars are almost laughable. Published October 16, 2017

D.C. Wharf opens with new amid the old

The Wharf has been built, and now the public and the dollars will come. The penultimate issue: Is law enforcement prepared for the onslaught? Published October 12, 2017

Rating school choice, state by state

The Center for Education Reform just released its 2017 Parent Power! Index (PPI), which gauges parental options so they can flex their school-choice muscles. Published October 11, 2017

Legal prostitution in D.C. should be considered carefully

The D.C. Council is considering legislation that would decriminalize prostitution. The Reducing Criminalization to Promote Public Safety and Health Amendment Act would permit women, men and teens to buy, sell and ply commercial sex without fear of prosecution -- regardless of whether they are on the giving or receiving end of the transaction. Published October 9, 2017

Washington D.C. mayor’s race won and done?

It would be nice if the D.C. Republican Party fielded a strong candidate to tie the laces of Miss Bowser's sneakers in 2018. Published October 5, 2017

Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and debt

President Obama signed into law the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA), which, similar to the D.C. control board, was designed to alleviate financial pressures in the U.S. territory. Published October 4, 2017

Las Vegas shooting one in a string of mass casualty incidents

What happened in Vegas is not going to stay in Vegas. Published October 2, 2017

Affordable housing isn’t hard to find

Finding ways to put hard-working, low-income and fixed-income people into affordable housing may not be as difficult and costly as some politicians and advocates would have you think — if only they would think smaller. Published September 28, 2017

NCAA basketball scandal is yuuuge

The NCAA men's basketball scandal that's bubbling up alongside the NFL's kneel-don't-kneel headlines has been a long time in the making — and to borrow an adjective from a president who already has lots of folks blowing their stacks, yes, the NCAA scandal is yuuuge. Published September 27, 2017

Recovery schools need empirical data

Recovery schools. Heard of them? Recovery schools are private, public, alternative and other specialty schools where students are in the throes of recovering from substance abuse. Published September 25, 2017

No new Metro tax, please and thanks

"There is no Plan B" for shoring up and sustaining Metro, Board Chairman Jack Evans told me Thursday morning. Published September 21, 2017

Jack Evans, Metro chair: New tax is only way

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan got a backhand on Thursday regarding their positions on a new 1 cent regional sales tax to fund the D.C. region's Metro transit system. Published September 21, 2017

Reading is still fundamental, even amid hurricanes

Christian and Skyler were anxious. The 5-year-old Texas twins were set to enter kindergarten — until Hurricane Harvey ripped their world. Their school is among five north of Corpus Christi that remain shuttered, having lost heating and air conditioning systems, roofs, electrical systems and much of what ordinarily defines a schoolhouse, including children, teachers and books. Published September 20, 2017